Fertilizer depositing apparatus



) June 9, 1936. K. H. CONLEY f,

I FERTILIZER DEPOSITING APPARATUS Filed April 29, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet lINVENTOR.

Kuw- H Co/mm ATTO 15y.

June 9, 1936. K. H. 'CONLEY FERTILIZER DEPOSITING APPARATUS 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 29, 1935 H I IHI INVENTOR vrjjCo/mm PatentedJune 9, 1936 E STAT FERTIL'IZEn DEPOSITING APPARATUS Kurt #H. Conley,Bridgeport, lGonn.

Application 'April 29, 1933,, Serial no. 668,557

' -12 Claims. (c1. 221-419) This invention relates more particularly tofertilizer depositors of the typewhich deposit a material at somespecific location as distinct from the general class of scatteringapparatus.

It is, therefore, among the general objects of the invention to providea simple, effioientand inexpensive device for depositing at .a specificlocation a predetermined-quantity of fertilizing material. 7

Another important object is to provide an apparatus for making asub-soil deposit such that the fertilizer will be wholly deposited at apreferred definite location preferably in the neighborhood of theparticular food absorbing portions of a trees roots.

Another important object is ta provide adevice for depositing apredetermined amount ;of material as distinct from depositing apparatuswhich depend upon the accuracy andcontrol of the operator for measuring-,at each use ;the.guantity of material deposited I Another object is toprovide an instrumentality which is lightand compact without theSacrifice .of strength, durability and capacity, thus to provide readyportability while in use .and also to provide minimum weight and size inshipment or transportation from one field {of operation to another.

Numerous-other objects, advantages and .novel features will be apparentfrom a further -;consideration of this description and of theaccompanying drawings. a i v Briefly and generally stated thatform :ofthe invention here described by way -.of illustration consists of astandard orv support {constituting a skeleton frame, the same-beingsuggested :as formed from round stock and supporting ,at its top a bagor hopper by the medium ,of a'foldfllble ,member. 'I'he lower end of thestandard construction is secured to .a valve ,chamber body ;to the upperend of whichrthe bag ,or hopper is ,se-

cured. A discharge nozzle is preferably ,arranged in connection with thevalve body so as ito provide for an inserted depositlofthe'materialarather than a mere discharge which might beascattered.,Animportarrt feature of ithe invention is1the waive mechanism and itsoperating-means whereby the proper placingof the devicecoupled its ownweight acts to discharge a -''predetermined quan tity' of materialbeneath the ground surface. The structural details by which'onepreferred embodiment of theinvention is accomplished will be hereafterreferred to.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of .a preferred form of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a frontelevati-on of the same.

,Fig. 3 is a top plan view.

Fig. 4 .is a detailed vertical section of the valve chamber with theparts in material depositing position.

Fig. 5 is a detailed front elevation of the portion shown in Fig. .4 andFig. 6 is a section taken on lines 6-5 of Figs. 4 and .5;

From a consideration of the drawings it will be seen that economy ofmanufacture, lightness in Weightand simplicity of operation are providedby .a minimum number of parts the essentials of construction beingprovided by merely three parts namely, the standard or frame, the bag orhopper and the valve chamber and its valves and operating mechanism.

With respect to the frame, reference may :be

had to the numerals 10 which indicate a pair of supporting .or framerods preferably of .hollow construction, The rods lll extend in parallelfrom the valve body upwardly their upper ends being provided withclamping members M secured thereon by nuts [2. Each of the clampingmembers ;I.l receives one .end .of oneof apair of bag or hoppersupporting handles 13 each of wh ch are .of right angularly disposed rodconstruction, their outer ends being joined by across bar .14 securedtherebetween .as vby the screws l5. The center ,portion :of the bar 14may be depressed as at 16 sons to provide .a recess or depression in theoutline of the bag ,or hopper which .may :have the dual purpose :offorming a configuration suitable to conform with a tree trunk vor postagainst which the device may be rested or which may also conform withthe body ,of an operator ,to facilitate his holding and operating thedevice.

I .have herein referred .to the fertilizer ,con-

.tainer as .a bag or hopper. Obviously, the invention is .not restrictedto the form .of such container and if desired a rigid hopper ,may beemployed. However, I prefer to usea fabriczpr other pliable bag asindicated by numeral I].

The bag 11, .,at least the lower end of which :is vof generally ,conicalformation, may .be =cqn en =ientlysupp0rted from the rods L3 and ,bar1.4 ,by

the insertion thereof through tubular hems ,formed in theedgeoftheopenmouthof theibag.

The fold formed tunnel 18 receiving .the ,bar .14 while the rear ends ofthe rods 13 are recessed vthrough similar folds l9 and the .oppositeends of .the bars are received through folds 20. Inter- V mediate thefolds .19 and .20, the rods extend .out-

. valves 3| and 32.

wardly from the bag circumference so as to provide convenient hand grips2|. By this arrangement and through the use of flexible material for thebag it will be seen that when not in use the handles may pivot in theirsockets formed by members ll thus to fold to the dotted line positionshown by the arrow in Fig. 1. By this movement it will be seen that thedevice may fold to peculiarly small dimensions for purposes of shipmentand transportation. The lower end 22- of the bag as well as the lowerends of the supporting rods is secured to the valve body. The valvebody, generally indicated by numeral 23 is of substantially simplecylindrical form, its upper end being flared as at 24, and receivestherein a similarly formed cup of leather 25 which is bolted thereto andwhich in turn is joined to the neck 22 of the bag thus to provide aflexible and yet leak proof and durable juncture so as to provide a freepassage for material from. the bag to and through the valve chamber.

The lower ends of the rods l0 extendforwardly near their lower ends asby the bends 26 and their extremities 21 extend through and are coupledrigidly with the valve body 23 by reception through the apertures offlanges 28 and 29, nuts 30 acting to secure them rigidly in positionthus to provide a strong, simple, easily assembled and durablecombination of parts.

The valve body 23 is illustrated as being formed of a cylindricalcentral body, the flaring upper end and the slightly restricteddepositing tube parts being secured in rigid assembly by the arrangementof associate parts. However, the specific detail of formation is aproblem more directly of production. Suflice, it therefore, to considerthe same as a unitary member either so cast or fabricated from variousparts.

Within the cylindrical central body portion of the body 23 are disposedtwo spaced butterfly The upper valve 3| controls the passage of materialfrom the bag to the valve body while the lower controls the discharge ofmaterial from the apparatus through the discharge tube 33.

The stems 34 of the valves extend through the walls of the body 23 andeach are provided with cross levers 35 the opposite end of each leverbeing joined by a spring 36 thus to maintain a normal tension urgingboth valves in closed position. The other end of each lever 35 isprovided with a projection 31 each of which is in V the path of upperand lower actuating pins 38 and 39 respectively which are carried by areciprocating plunger 49 the upper end of which is slidable in theflange 28 while the lower end is secured to an operating shoe 4| whichencircles the tube 33 and which is urged downwardly by the pin andspring construction shown in Fig. 5. The tubular formation of the rodsIll accommodates this arrangement of parts. It will be seen that thisconstruction provides the upwardly-extending pins carried by the sidesof the shoe 4!, which fit into the lower tubular ends of the rods [0.The rods enclose therein the springs shown in Figure 5, which abut theupper end of the pins carried by the shoe, and. which, thus, tend tonormally urge the shoe in its most downward posi-' ferred arrangement ishere shown by which the insertion of the discharge tube in a preformedreceiving hole will automatically discharge an amount of fertilizermeasured by the capacity of the valve chamber between the valvesthereof. The normal inoperative position of parts is shown in Fig. 2,with the shoe 4| extending downwardly through the spring pressure andthus the rod 40 in lowermost position, the upper valve will be held openagainst spring tension through the downward pressure of pin 38 on itsarm 31. The same spring pressure acts to maintain closed the lower valve32, the operating pin 39 for which is normally below and out ofengagement with its arm 31. Thus normally the fertilizing material willfill the valve body to the point of the lower valve.

In operation when the discharge tube is inserted, preferably in apreformed hole but possibly by pressure the shoe 4| will be supported bythe ground surface so that movement thereof upward with respect to thebody and in opposition to its spring pressure, will take place. Suchmovement releases pin 38 from the cross lever of valve 3| and the springpressure thereupon will close this valve as a continuation of the upwardmovement of rod 40, its pin 39 will raise projection 3'! of the levercontrolling the lower valve which will thus open emitting the materialwhich has been lodged in the valve body, thus discharging automaticallybelow the surface of the soil 2. measured quantity of fertilizingmaterial. Means may be provided such as the push-pin 42 for renderingthe valve mechanism positively inoperative when desired; thus avoidingaccidental discharge of fertilizing material while the hopper is beingrefilled or While the device is being carried.

The pin 42 is held against accidental movement by a spring 44. When thepin 42 is moved inwardly as shown in Fig. 1, it lies in the path of theprojection 43 of the lower end of the valve chamber 23 thus preventingrelative movement of rod 40 with respect to the chamber. When the deviceis to be used, the pin 42 is moved outward as shown in Figure 4, thuspermitting free movement of the part.

It will be understood from this description that various arrangements ofthe actuating means may be employed. For instance, if the upper valve beheld open or removed, the deposit of material will be commensurate withthe length of time the device is held in its inserted position.Conversely, if the upper valve is caused to be closed by the downwardmovement of the rod 40, the device may be adjusted to discharge anamount something less than the valve body ca-. pacity. Also, by adownward extension of shoe scope of the invention as outlined in theappend-.

ed claims.

Having thus set forth the nature of my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a fertilizing apparatus, a hopper, a valve chamber for controllingdischarge of material therefrom, a control valve in said chamber, adischarge tube extending from said chamber and adapted for insertion inthe ground and means for automatically discharging a predeterminedquantity of material from' said chamber upon insertion of said tube inthe'ground, said means including a valve actuator partially encirclingsaid tube and engageable with the ground upon insertion thereof.

2. In a fertilizing apparatus, a hopper, a valve chamber for controllingdischarge of material therefrom, inlet and outlet valves in saidchamber, a discharge tube extending from said chamber and adapted forinsertion in the ground and means for automatically discharging apredetermined quantity of material from'said chamber upon insertion ofsaid tube in the ground, said means including a valve actuator havinglost motion actuating connection with said valves, partially encirclingsaid tube and engageable with the ground upon insertion thereof.

3. In a fertilizer distributor, the combination with a discharge controlchamber and a hopper therefor, of a skeleton frame extending upwardlytherefrom and terminating in handles which extend beyond the outline ofthe hopper to provide grasping sections and which cooperate with theframe to form a foldable hopper support.

4. In a fertilizer distributor, the combination with a discharge controlchamber and a flexible bag hopper therefor, of a skeleton frameextending upwardly therefrom and terminating in handles which extendbeyond the outline of the hopper to provide grasping sections and whichcooperate with the frame to form a foldable hopper support.

5. In a fertilizer distributor, the combination with a discharge controlchamber and a flexible bag hopper therefor, of a skeleton frameextending upwardly therefrom and terminating in pivoted handles whichextend beyond the outline of the hopper to form grasping sections andwhich cooperate with the frame to form a foldable hopper support.

6. In a fertilizer distributor, a valve chamber, a flexible bag attachedthereto, a skeleton frame extending upward from the chamber and handlemeans which extend beyond the outline of the hopper to form graspingsections at its upper end engageable with the open end of the bag tosupport it.

7. In a fertilizer distributor, a valve chamber, a flexible bag attachedthereto, a skeleton frame extending upward from the chamber and handlemeans at its upper end engageable with the open end of the bag tosupport it, said handle means extending beyond the outline of the hopperto form grasping sections and be foldable to reduce the dimensions ofthe apparatus when the same is not in use.

8. A fertilizer depositor including a valve chamber having a dischargenozzle, a flexible bag attached thereto, a pair of rods extending fromthe chamber upwardly and a pair of handles pivotally secured to theupper end of said rods and engageable with the bag to support it in openposition.

9. A fertilizer depositor including a valve chamber having a dischargenozzle, a flexible bag attached thereto, a pair of rods extending fromthe chamber upwardly and a pair of handles pivotally secured to theupper end of said rods and a cross bar carried by the handles andengageable with the bag to hold it in open position.

10. A fertilizer depositor including a valve chamber having a dischargenozzle, a flexible bag attached thereto, a pair of rods extending fromthe chamber upwardly and a pair of handles pivotally secured to theupper end of said rods and a cross bar carried by the handles andengageable with the bag to hold it in open position, the same beingdisposed to form a depression in one side of the bag mouth to conform itto the configuration of a tree against which the apparatus may lean.

11. A fertilizer depositor including a valve chamber having a dischargenozzle, 2. flexible bag attached thereto, a pair of rods extending fromthe chamber upwardly and a pair of handles pivotally secured to theupper end of said rods and engageable with the bag to support it in openposition and ground engaging means associated with the valve chamberoperable to automatically discharge material therefrom upon insertion ofthe nozzle in the ground.

12. A fertilizer distributor comprising a valve chamber having an inletand an outlet valve with spring means for normally holding the formeropen and the latter closed, a discharge tube, a pair of rods extendingupwardly from the chamber, a pair of handles pivotally mounted on saidrods, a bag supported from said handles and opening into said chamber, aground engaging valve actuator associated with said discharge tube andlost motion means connected therefrom to said valves for .dischargingfrom the chamber a predetermined quantity of material automatically uponinsertion of the tube in the ground.

KURT H. CONLEY.

